Cookie Recipes

Girl Scout Cookie RecipesGirl Scout cookies are delicious by themselves, but you can also use them to make terrific desserts! Here’s some Girl Scout Cookie recipes to try! Email us at info@gsle.org and let us know what you think! We may post your comments!

PREPARATIONMake the cookie crust:
In the bowl of a food processor, finely grind the cookies. Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs start to stick together. Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Chill until ready to use.

Make the filling:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

In a dry metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Let cool until lukewarm.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated. Add the melted chocolate, along with the heavy cream, cocoa powder, and the vanilla and peppermint extracts and beat, scraping down the bowl and paddle as necessary, until smooth and streak-free.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust, smooth the top, and bake until the center is just set, about 1 hour. Transfer to a rack to let cool for 20 minutes. Press down gently on the puffed edges to flatten then run a small sharp knife around the top edge of the pan to loosen the cake.

Do not remove the pan sides. Let cool completely then cover with a double layer of plastic wrap and chill overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving, if desired. DO AHEAD:The cheesecake can be baked ahead, cooled, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Samantha’s Samoa Cheesecake

SAMANTHA’S SAMOA CHEESECAKE

Crust:
4 ounces Trefoil shortbread cookies, finely crushed
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, meltedPre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the wells of a mini-cheesecake pan with non-stick spray
Toss together cookie crumbs and sugar. Stir in melted butter. Press approximately one tablespoon of crumbs into nine of the wells in the cheesecake pan. Bake crust for approximately 20 minutes, or just until it begins to brown. Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely.Cheesecake Filling:8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 Samoas cookies, roughly choppedLower oven temperature to 300 degrees. Beat cream cheese and sugar together on medium until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl and beater blades periodically. Lower mixer speed to low and mix egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Continue to mix until smooth. (Helpful hint: if your cheesecake batter is lumpy, your ingredients were probably too cold, to remedy this, I use my immersion blender to smooth out the batter). Stir in the chopped cookies, Pour batter over crust, filling to within a ½ inch of the top of each well. Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until just set. Turn oven off and slightly crack door. Allow cheesecakes to cool in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.Topping (and Bottom) – adapted from Baking Bites1 cup shredded coconut
4 ounces chewy caramels
1 tablespoon milk or cream
Pinch of salt
3 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Spread coconut over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees, stirring every 5 minutes, until toasted. Keep a very close watch when the coconut begins to brown, as it can go from nicely toasted to burn very quickly.
Melt together caramels, milk, and salt either over a double boiler or in the microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, Stir periodically while heating. (I used some leftover homemade salted caramel sauce that I had in the fridge in place of the caramels and milk.) Once the mixture is smooth, stir in toasted coconut. Spread about 2 teaspoons of the coconut-caramel topping over each cheesecake, and allow to set for a few minutes.

In the meantime, melt chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave on medium heat, stirring after interval. Carefully dip the bottom of each cheesecake into the chocolate and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Once all cheesecake bottoms have been dipped, transfer remaining chocolate to a zip-lock bag with a very small corner snipped off. Drizzle chocolate over coconut-caramel topping. Place cookies in the refrigerator until chocolate covered bottoms have set. Enjoy!

Directions:
1. Break cookies into pieces.
2. Lightly spray nonstick baking spray into cups.
3. Melt butter. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate until smooth.
4. In a bowl, whisk together melted chocolate with sweetened condensed milk.
5. Spoon a thin layer of chocolate into bottom of cup.
6. Place a layer of broken cookies over layer of chocolate.
7. Spoon another layer of chocolate mix over the cookies.
8. Place another layer of cookies over the layer of chocolate.
9. Spoon another layer of chocolate mix over the cookies.
10. Repeat process in each cup, then freeze until frozen solid (approx. 2 hours).
11. Once frozen, gently tear off cups from dessert.

Directions:Finely chop/crush your cookies. Using a stand mixer, mix your cream cheese and cookie crumbs. This will create thick, rich dough. Roll into balls using approximately 1 tbs. of dough per ball. Let cool in fridge for approx. 15 minutes.

Melt chocolate in a microwave safe dish on 50% power for 30 seconds at a time, mixing in between. Dip balls in melted chocolate, tapping off excess. Place on wax paper or foil. Leave your cookie balls on wax paper or foil until chocolate is set.

Directions:Beat pudding and milk with a hand mixer until thoroughly mixed. Add cream cheese to pudding and blend with hand mixer until smooth. Refrigerate while other steps are competed.

Line bottom of trifle dish with TYBM cookies. In a bowl or food processor crush ¾ box Savannah Smiles cookies into large pieces. In a bowl combine ½ Cool Whip with ½ berries. Spoon ½ berry/Cool Whip mixture on bottom of trifle dish, on top of the cookies. Sprinkle ½ of Savannah Smiles cookies over berry mixture. Remove pudding from refrigerator and spoon ½ mixture on top of Savannah Smiles layer. Repeat steps until all ingredients have been used. Use remaining Savannah Smiles and TYBM cookies to line sides of the trifle dish, alternating cookies to make a pattern. If any cookies remain crush them and sprinkle crumbs over top of trifle.

Thin Mint Milkshake

THIN MINT MILKSHAKE

My family and I have been making this for years. My little sister was part of the St. Francis Xavier Junior Girl Scout Troop and my mom was a Girl Scout many years ago.-Erin

Directions:
Place milk and whole cookies into a blender, and blend on a medium speed until smooth. Add ice cream carefully, and blend on a high speed until fully blended and creamy. Place most of the crushed cookies on the bottom of a shake glass (saving some cookies to put on the top). Slowly pour the shake into the glass and top with remaining cookies. Serve with a straw AND a spoon, as it will be VERY thick. Makes 2 shakes.

Crust: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter. Blend well with fingers. Press onto the bottom of a well-buttered springform pan. Chill in the freezer or refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and whipped. Add sugar. Mix. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add peppermint extract and heavy cream; blend until smooth and creamy. Stir in candies and cookies. Pour mixture into the chilled pan. Place the pan inside a larger pan containing one inch of water and bake in a preheated 325° oven for 1-1/2 hours. Turn oven off, open door, leave cheesecake in oven 1/2 hour. Remove and cool completely (refrigerate overnight).

Topping: in a small saucepan, place whipping cream and semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Heat over medium heat until chips are melted. Stir frequently. Remove from heat after it just comes to a boil. Let cool 1/2 hour. Pour over cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate.

To make the crust: Break up the Girl Scout Samoa cookies (14 cookies) into a food processor. Process until the cookies are evenly crumbed. Press into a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate for an hour or more.

To make the filling: Make the pudding using the directions for pie filling on the box. If it is cooked pudding, let cool until warm instead of hot, stirring every five or 10 minutes to avoid leaving a “skin” on the pudding. When it has cooled sufficiently, pour it into the chilled pie crust. If it is instant pudding, you may pour it directly into the chilled pie after mixing.

To make the topping: Heat the oven to 325°. Spread the coconut flakes on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Stir the coconut every couple minutes until it is evenly browned. This should take about 10 minutes or less. Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of the filling in the crust and refrigerate while you make the chocolate drizzle.

To make the chocolate drizzle: Place the chocolate in a microwave proof dish. Microwave at half power for one minute. Add the butter and microwave, again, at half power for another 30 to 60 seconds, stirring to mix the melted chocolate. Continue microwaving and stirring until the chocolate is completely melted and mixed with the butter. Add the cream and mix well. Drizzle over the toasted coconut or put in a decorating bag and pipe on in any design you wish. Refrigerate for three hours or overnight.

Insert sticks into top of apples. Melt caramel in double boiler. Dip apples in caramel using a spoon to spread evenly over whole apple. Allow excess caramel mixture to drip off. Immediately dip bottoms of apples into crumbs. Place cookie side down on waxed paper and let stand about 30 minutes or until firm.

Line a 9″x9″ pan with heavy-duty foil. Place trefoils in lining covering bottom. Arrange ice cream bars to cover cookies. Cover top with another layer of cookies. Place in freezer. Preheat oven to 500°. In a large bowl beat egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar about a tablespoon at a time and beat on high speed with electric beater. Make sure meringue is very stiff. Remove pan with cookies and ice cream bars from freezer and lift from pan holding onto foil liner. Place liner on a cookie sheet and fold out sides of foil. Quickly cover with meringue all around. Bake 500° for two or 3 minutes or until meringue is light brown. Quickly return to freezer and freeze no more than five hours before serving. To serve, cut into squares with a sharp knife.

6. Using two 16 oz. bowls, line inside of bowls with plastic wrap, creating as few wrinkles as possible.

7. In small amounts coat the inside of each bowl with approx. ¼ inch thick layer of Trefoil paste. Make sure layer is even throughout, and goes right up to top of the bowl. Then sprinkle with plain ground Trefoils.

8. Using Tagalongs® milk chocolate pudding, layer approx. 1″ thick layer. Only go up to 1 inch of the rim of Trefoil. Then sprinkle inside of layer with ground Thin Mints.

9. Fill in middle with Thin Mint dark chocolate pudding.

10. Sprinkle ground Thin Mints over just Thin Mint pudding. Then coat over with Tagalongs® pudding, just to ½ inch to the rim of Trefoil.

11. Sprinkle top of Tagalongs® pudding with ground Trefoils. Spread out Trefoil paste on plastic round to fit top of bombe using same thickness as rest of Trefoil layer. Place over top and seal bombe.

12. Wrap tightly with plastic and freeze for at least 1 hour.

13. Melt 2 cups dark semi-sweet chocolate.

14. Wrap two plates tightly with plastic wrap.

15. Using small spoon, make a chocolate circle on plastic wrap that matches the size of bottom of the bombe.

16. Carefully pull bombe out of bowl, and remove all plastic wrap and place directly on top of melted chocolate circle.

Bring the first measurement of cream and mint just to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; cover. Let steep 15 minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a glass measuring cup. Discard the mint, and set cream aside. Beat the remaining cup of cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form; cover and refrigerate. Prepare an ice water bath and set aside.

Put creme de menthe in medium heat-proof bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand 5 minutes to soften. Whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar in another medium bowl; set aside. Add steeped cream to gelatin mixture, whisking until well combined.

Set bowl with cream mixture over pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, pour hot cream mixture in a slow, steady stream into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to heat-proof bowl; set over pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is slightly thickened and registers 150 degrees on a thermometer, about 10 minutes.

Transfer bowl to ice water bath; whisk until mixture thickens to the consistancy of pudding, about 2 minutes. Remove bowl from bath. Add 1/3 of whipped cream and whisk until combined. Gently fold in remaining whipped cream and crumbled cookies, blending thoroughly.

Spoon mixture into pie crust; refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Spoon dollops of whipped cream onto pie if desired and top with chocolate shavings.